8 Ways Musical Theater Has Changed You Forever

Growing up, you were involved with community theater, starred in your high school musical production, and probably continued to perform a bit into your college years. But at some point, you had to hand in your character shoes and get yourself a "big kid job." While many of us choose to leave the stage and pursue other passions in life, musical theater has most definitely left a lasting impact on our lives.

Who can say if it has changed us for the better...but here are eight examples to show that we have been changed for good. (If you didn't catch that, you can stop reading the rest of this now)

1. You can't pass a hard wood floor without practicing your time step

Six years ago you were in Anything Goes and you may or may not have been listing "tap dancing" as a skill on your resume since. Anytime you hit that crisp hardwood floor, there isn't a soul in the world who can stop you from busting out a flap ball change, or at least a pirouette. You've still got it!

2. If you are asked to dress up, you DRESS UP

Because who likes regular, old clothes anyway? You live for costume parties and don't even get us started on Halloween. You plan your costume out months in advance, make multiple trips to Jo-Ann Fabric, and walk into the party dressed to the nines in your homemade masterpiece. No time to plan a costume? No worries! You've got a box of clothes and props stored in the back of your closet from past costumes, because lord knows you are going to need those fishnets again for something.

3. Posing for a photo is never boring

It is called posing for a reason and you are never too shy to make the most out of a photograph. Arms out, mouth open, foot flexed. Whatever your style is, you never miss an opportunity to totally vogue. It's the way to live people.

4. You sing everywhere

Forget the car, forget the shower, you are in the middle of isle five belting out "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" as it plays overhead and that is perfectly okay. When you feel it, you feel it and for us theater folk, the world is our concert hall. What geniuses do you think invented flash mobs? Yeah, that was us.

5. Your DVD collection is very unbalanced

I mean, if you are going to actually own a movie, it might as well be the classic films you can't watch on Netflix like The Sound of Music and Les Miserables. If you are like me, your movie collection is 50% musicals, 40% Disney and 10% bargain bin chick flicks. Deal with it.

6. You cringe at the thought of paying $13 for a movie but will cash out $150 to see your favorite broadway production anytime.

If Hollywood thinks you are going pay $13 to see a movie, they are out of their mind. You are saving that money to see Wicked for the fourth time, plus you are still broke from when The Book of Mormon came to town. You have got your entertainment priorities down.

7. You buy shoes, coats and hats that remind you of characters you once portrayed or decades you once played in

Theater folk love vintage, why? Because in community theater that is what we live in. Furs, waistcoats, hats, and gowns, many from the era the originated. And who says we can't wear such things in the real world? Wear your Annie Oakley shoes and your Danny Zuko leather jacket proudly.

8. When you come across another musical theater kid, you are INSTANTLY best friends

I'll never forget my first rehearsal of my first musical theater production. I went home and looked at my mom and said, "I found my people." Musical theater folk are breed all their own and need to formal introduction to suddenly burst into song and dance together and become instantly connected. Bonds that form within a cast is unbreakable and your very best and longest friends are probably theater kids, too. Am I right? We just get each other.